needlessly embarrassing

I bought a new camera the other day.  Well. not new but second-hand (or pre-enjoyed as they prefer to call "used" these days!).  I part-exchanged my old camera as part payment and then went onto the seller's website to pay the rest by card.

So, I put in all my credit card details and it came back with "sorry. it's been declined".  I checked that the details were correct - they were - and tried again.

Declined -  again……  

And there was no third time lucky either.

And all this after going through two-factor authentication and typing in the six digit code they'd sent to my (MY) mobile phone every time.

I got my card account up on line fearing unauthorised use had put it over its credit limit.  Nope, all was fine.  I pay my bill in full every month by direct debit so no issues there either.

I phoned the seller, explained what had happened and tried another card (my bank debit card this time) for an account with more than enough money to cover the purchase in it.  Same again - declined.

impic…impecane…impucun…SKINT

I'm sure by now the sales person on the other end of the line could sense my sheer embarrassment.  Did they think I was trying to buy something I couldn't afford?

Eventually, after a text message from my bank this time to make sure it was me making the purchase, the payment went through.

Now, I realise that fraud exists and happens to innocent people.  But this experience was so embarrassing. I'd gone through all the verification I could and still my payment got declined.

This whole incident reminded me of my late mother.  I used to take her to the supermarket every week.  And guaranteed every week her card would be declined at the till and I would have to pay.  After the third or fourth week she rang the bank (well, I did for her) only to be told that if transactions appear suspicious they would be declined.

I explained that this was my mother's local supermarket and she had been using her card there for years with no issues at all until recently.  "Protocol" was the response along with an apology but not an assurance it would not happen again.  It did - the very next time she went!

To confound my mother and me further though, when she went to stay with my sister for a week or so and used the card in a shop over 200 miles from her home there was no such protocol then.  The card was accepted with no issue.

Protocol my ar…

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If you could do with a laugh (and frankly who couldn't) you could do (admittedly not much) worse than watching the video below: